Lucroy to observe for a while

Catcher Jonathan Lucroy returned to Brewers camp on Friday with his fractured right pinkie finger heavily wrapped and his patience about to be tested.

Lucroy underwent surgery Thursday to insert a pin into his fractured finger. He’s expected to need four weeks to fully recover, and until a follow-up doctor’s appointment next week, he will only observe the Brewers’ workouts.

“They don’t want this to get infected,” he said, holding up a finger that was splinted and wrapped. “So no catching, not for a while. …

“It’s very awkward. I’m going to be very uncomfortable. I feel like a coach or something, or a batboy. But it’s part of it. I can’t do anything to re-injure it or hurt myself even worse, so I’m not going to take any chances. I’m a very impetuous person, very impatient, so I want to get after it, but that wouldn’t be the smart thing to do.”

Lucroy was hurt during a drill on Wednesday in which the catchers worked on taking throws from the outfield. The baseball took a bad hop and fractured the first knuckle of Lucroy’s finger, near the fingertip.

Dr. Don Sheridan, the same hand specialist who has worked on Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, inserted an inch-long pin to hold the bones in place to heal. At some point, that pin will be removed.

By Friday, Lucroy had accepted his situation. He was not so calm on Wednesday afternoon.

“I was pretty upset about it,” he said. “But after I started thinking about it, I realized that if it was going to happen, it’s better to happen now and get it over with. It’s the first major injury I’ve had, so it’s something I have to deal with personally.

“It’s a setback, yeah. But I don’t think it’s anything we can’t overcome.”

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